U.S. snubs Pakistan with new drone strikes in Waziristan

It was just two days ago that the brand new prime minister of
Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, said that the U.S. must call off its drone
campaign:

"We respect the sovereignty of others and they should
respect our sovereignty and independence. This campaign must come
to an end now."

He has also criticized the drone strike that killed Waliur Rehman, the
second in command in Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Pakistan
Taliban, two weeks ago.

On Friday, the U.S. apparently snubbed Sharif's call by launching a
drone that fired two missiles at suspected militants in Waziristan in
Pakistan's tribal region, killing seven and injuring three others.
The new drone strike is sure to become a major political issue in
Pakistan, and widen an existing fault line between the politicians,
who oppose the drone strikes, and the Pakistan intelligence agencies,
which favor them. Tribune (Pakistan) and VOA

U.N. rejects Russian troops to replace Austrian peacekeepers

There was a bit of humor on Friday, when Russia's president Vladimir
Putin offered Russian troops to replace the Austrian troops that are
pulling out of the peacekeeping force on the border between Syria and
Israel because it's become too dangerous there, as we reported yesterday.

Having Russian troops on the border between Syria and Israel
would be such a great idea. They're already in Syria helping
out president Bashar al-Assad massacre innocent civilians, and
in their new role they could join Hezbollah in more slaughter.

Unfortunately for Putin, the United Nations rejected the offer because
an agreement between Israel and Syria bars permanent members of the
Security Council from the peacekeeping mission. Reuters and Debka

Greece's economy continues its collapse, as the IMF blames the EU

Greece's economy contracted an astronomical 5.6% in the first quarter
of 2013, in the 19th straight quarter of decline, according to a
report issued on Friday. The entire Greece bailout program was based
on the assumption that Greece's economy would have started to grow
long before now, and there have been predictions of "growth next year"
for several years. In fact, Greece's prime minister Antonis Samaras
is predicting growth in 2014, as part of his standard ritual.

The finger-pointing is in full gear. The International Monetary Fund
(IMF) issued a report on Thursday blaming the European Union for not
questioning Greece's lies about its economy when in joined the euro
currency, and then mis-handling the bailout. In response, EU Economic
and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn hit back calling that
revisionist history. He said: "I donít think itís fair and just that
(the IMF) is trying to wash its hands and throw dirty water on
European shoulders," saying that the IMF did not oppose any of the
bailout steps that were taken. In fact, I said repeatedly that
there was no solution to the Greece problem, and there were
others who also expressed doubts. I pointed out misrepresentations
and outright lies by European officials during the various
meetings to approve bailouts.